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By A. Nieto

A dump edge and vehicle proximity warning system is being developed at the Colorado School of Mines using GPS and wireless local area networks to improve the safety of off-highway trucks in open pit mines. After two years of research, software development, and testing in the laboratory, field tests are currently being carried out at operating limestone quarries and open pit mining operations to evaluate the effectiveness of the system under rugged operating conditions. This paper describes the progress made on this NIOSH-funded project and discuss, tests carried out recently, at the Morenci open pit copper mine in Arizona.

Jan 1, 2002

By Y. J. Wang

In the mathematical analysis of electrical networks, the electrical devices are often modeled using idealized network elements such as current sources, voltage sources, and resistors. An analogous approach is outlined here for the modeling of mine ventilation networks, which can be considered nonlinear resistive networks. The modeling technique proposed uses five basic (non-reducible) elements: the H element, the Q element, the D element, the R element, and the N element. These elements are characterized by their (a) pressure gain or loss, (b) air quantity, and (c) pressure-versus-quantity relationship, each of which may be known or unknown. In addition to the definition of the basic elements, the necessary conditions for which there exists a unique solution are discussed. This is performed using theoretical developments derived from electrical circuit theory and illustrated in example networks. The proposed procedures are useful in the solution and characterization of mine ventilation networks.

Jan 1, 1996

By L. Xu, S Jones, R. Bhaskar, J. McKenzie

The objective of this project was to optimize the ventilation parameters of a continuous miner underboom scrubber. This would result in further control of the amount of airborne dust discharged during mining, reduce the exposure of face personnel for an exhaust brattice ventilation system, and avoid recirculation of contaminants at the face. This research was performed in an underground coal mine in Utah. The tasks performed included preliminary face ventilation evaluation, and optimization of the scrubber system to eliminate recirculation of the scrubber discharge air. Airflow tests were conducted on the currently used dust control system and the modified scrubber system. Tracer gas tests were performed to evaluate face ventilation effectiveness. Confirmatory tests of the scrubber system under actual operating conditions, modifications to the scrubber system and a comparative evaluation of the scrubber system vs. the existing system were performed. This paper presents the results of the airflow pattern tests and the respirable dust levels in the modified scrubber system and the existing system. The optimized face ventilation parameters and the developed operating guidelines may provide the benefits of dust reduction, better lace ventilation and improved visibility.

Jan 1, 1994

By J. Yao

Synthetic indium-bearing zinc ferrite (IBZF) was mechanically activated by a tumbling mill. Subsequently, the behavior and kinetics of leaching zinc and indium from the initial IBZF and activated IBZF in sulfuric acid solution were investigated. The results demonstrate that the tumbling ball milling enhances the leaching reactivity of IBZF and increases the zinc and indium extractions. The reaction temperature and H2SO4 concentration have an important effect on leaching zinc and indium from the initial IBZF and activated IBZF. The kinetic model -ln(1-x) = kt was used to describe the kinetics of leaching zinc and indium from the initial IBZF and activated IBZF and to calculate the kinetic parameters. The tumbling ball milling causes a decrease in activation energy and reaction order, which indicates that the dissolution of IBZF after mechanical activation by a tumbling mill becomes less sensitive to temperature and H2SO4 concentration. For the zinc leaching, the activation energy decreases from 73.9 to 70.3 kJ/mol and the reaction order decreases from 0.72 to 0.70. For indium leaching, the activation energy decreases from 78.1 to 73.5 kJ/mol and the reaction order decreases from 0.82 to 0.69. It is found that the dissolution rates of the initial IBZF and activated IBZF are controlled by surface chemical reactions.

By Steve Kral

MINExpo INTERNATIONL 2000 was a good place for companies to introduce new products, technologies and services to the mining industry. Caterpillar took that a step further. The company hosted a one-day preview of its mining products at its Tinaja Hills Training and Demonstration Center near Tucson, AZ. About 30 members of the trade press spent the day at Tinaja Hills before heading on to Las Vegas for MINExpo INTERNATIONAL 2000. Dozens of Caterpillar professionals provided the editors with a first-hand look at Caterpillar’s mining trucks, loaders, excavators, road graders, water trucks and engines. In addition, these Cat experts explained the intricacies of each piece of equipment, the latest technology that led their improvement and their value to the company’s mining customers.

Jan 1, 2000

By Yuting Xue, Gamal Rashed, Zoheir Khademian, Connor Brown, Khaled Mohamed

Ground falls in U.S. underground coal mines can lead to significant consequences, including loss of life, injuries, damaged equipment, and production stoppage. Improving the safety of the workplace is of utmost importance for mine workers and the U.S. economy. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) accident/injury/illness dataset provides short narratives for reported incidents, including ground-falls. The main objective of this study is to develop a framework that includes: 1) utilizing machine learning algorithms to categorize ground-fall incidents from narratives based on the main cause of the occurrence and 2) demonstrating an example of a user-friendly visualization to display injury/fatality trends from narratives in U.S. coal mines between 1983 and 2021. The developed framework was tested on a subset of the data and achieved an average F1-score of 96% in categorizing the incidents. The outcome will help identify areas requiring additional research and innovative solutions to reduce severe occupational hazards.

Feb 1, 2024

By D. K. Adjei, G. Ofori-Sarpong, R. K. Amankwah

"Mercury (Hg) is toxic and has long-term effect on the muscle tissues, the brain and the central nervous system functions due to its bioaccumulation and biotransformation effect. Hg pollution around the world is high and this has attracted much global concern such as the Minamata Convention on Mercury, held in 2013. For several years, mercury has been the chemical of choice for Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) gold extraction, accounting for about one-third of the global mercury consumption. A greater percentage of this ends up in the environment through open burning of amalgam, spillage and indiscriminate disposal of waste. To break this wall of mercury pollution, it is very important for the mercury used to be recycled through the use of mercury retort units. This brings into the limelight, the Lantern Retort which tries to synergise the high conductivity of steel and the see-through effect of glass, thus, improving the amalgamation process. A research conducted on improving the original Lantern Retort arrived at an appropriate distillation length of 5.08 cm which was used in redesigning a more efficient retort. The improved Lantern Retort recovered about 98% of the mercury used. INTRODUCTION Artisanal and Small-scale mining (ASM) is an informal mining activities which employ quite simple tools such as pickaxes, sluice boxes, shovels, chisels, metal bars, mattocks and water pumps for mining and processing of gold ores. The artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector has served as source of employment for many people in developing countries including Ghana (Aryee, 2001; Hilson and Potter, 2003; Amankwah and Anim-Sackey, 2004; Amankwah et al., 2010) and has provided a substantial amount of foreign exchange through its activities (Hilson, 2001; Styles et al., 2010). Hentschel et al. in 2003 estimated that about thirteen (13) million people are said to be engaged directly in the small-scale mining activities worldwide. However, an estimated 100 million people are said to depend on this sector for their livelihood mainly in developing countries. In China alone, a projected number between 3 and 15 million people are engaged in artisanal and small-scale mining activities (Hentschel et al., 2003), whilst in Ghana, it is estimated that more than 1,000,000 people are employed directly or indirectly in the artisanal and small-scale mining activities, with 10% being women (Amankwah and Anim-Sackey, 2004; Amankwah and Ofori-Sarpong, 2014). In Ghana, ASM gold production has grown from a low of 2.2% in 1989 to a high of 34% in 2014. This figure is estimated to increase with proper documentation. This indicates that the sector has made significant socioeconomic impact on many individuals and communities as a whole. Notwithstanding the above positive contributions, the sector has also contributed to negative impacts on human, aquatic life and the environment in general due to indiscriminate mercury emission. This ‘pollution wall’ needs to be broken, and several interventions have been put in place including the use of retort units like the lantern retort (Adjei et al., 2014; Amankwah and Ofori-Sarpong, 2014)."

Jan 1, 2017

Passive seismic monitoring is a useful tool for measuring wave propagation in rock mass in deep underground mining. About 20000 mining ? induced seismic events of a hard rock mine, are identified and investigated. The travel times of source-receiver pairs allow us to demonstrate temporal change in velocity. It was found that the average P wave velocity is about 6000 m/s in the mining regions. Velocity investigations on the data during about three months around the main shocks show a significant decrease of the average seismic wave velocity after the main shocks. The sudden drop of average velocity change after the main shocks implies the creation of new fractures in the rock mass due to the main shocks. Afterward, the average velocity increased to a normal level after a time duration of several days. A reasonable explanation for the post seismic velocity increase is that opened cracks begin to close due to crack healing.

Feb 23, 2014

By W. M. Cross

The use of fillers and reinforcements for plastics has increased considerably over the past few decades. For example, in the 1980's the average growth rate of filler use was 5.8%. [Katz and Milewski, 1987] Similar filler use growth rates occurred in the 1970's due largely to the increase in price of petrochemical starting materials for plastics. While filler use is still sometimes predicated on the cost benefits associated with their addition to the plastic, other mechanical and performance advantages associated with filler addition are being realized, and account for most of the increased usage. Plastic filler types are many and varied, and include both inorganic minerals/metals and organic compounds, with the former type being, by far, the more common. Common mineral fillers include oxides, including both natural and synthetic silica; carbonates, particularly calcium carbonate; clays such as kaolin; and silicates like mica and talc. It has been recognized that a number of factors influence filler performance, including particle size, shape, surface area, and hardness to name a few. In addition, the interaction between the filler and the plastic is of paramount importance as this interaction will determine the wettability, bonding and the adhesion between the two materials, and ultimately, the mechanical properties of the composite. Froth flotation has long been recognized as a viable process to separate different mineral types. [Leja, 1982] Prior to flotation the minerals are liberated from the ore by comminution. The mineral particle size range produced by this comminution process is typically between 300 and 10 microns. This size range is also typical of mineral fillers for plastics. The size similarity between mineral fillers and minerals concentrated by froth flotation is only one of many similarities that can be found.

Jan 1, 1997

By James R. Arnold

Over the past few years several commercial wetting agents and drying aids have been tested in the lab and in the plant at Gold Fields Mining's operations at Mesquite and Ortiz. The major goal was to increase recovery with these surfactants by improving the permeability of the pad and increasing the rate of penetration through the rock.

Jan 1, 1988

By Louis J. Sousa, Elizabeth H. Yaremchuk, Annette P. Graham

Introduction Responding to Congressional inquiries regarding the purchase of a number of major domestic mining and metals companies by foreign firms, the US Bureau of Mines examined trends in foreign direct investment in the US. mining and mineral processing industries1. "Foreign Direct Investment in the US Minerals Industry" analyzes the extent of foreign investment in several major mineral commodity industries. It identified the countries of origin of foreign investment in US mineral assets. The study also described several reasons for the growth of foreign investment in US minerals and discussed some potential implications of this activity. Foreign investment trends in the economy and minerals For the economy as a whole, between 1977 and 1985 the number of US affiliates of foreign investors more than doubled - from 4046 to 9824 - as did employment at these affiliates - from 1.2 million workers to 2.9 million (Table 1)2. During this same time period, the total value of assets of all US affiliates throughout the economy rose from $239 billion to $736 billion (1985 constant dollars). In the domestic minerals industry, foreign investment also grew substantially during that same time as the number of US minerals-related affiliates increased by 74% - from 125 to 217 - between 1977 and 19853. During the same period, employment at all foreign-owned affiliate mineral operations in this country increased by 78% and totaled 198,000 workers at the end of 1985. Parallelling the growth in the number of and employment at foreign-owned US mineral and metal operations, the total value of US mineral assets owned by foreign firms (or individuals) has nearly doubled since 1977 and amounted to $30.9 billion at the end of 1985. The rate of increase in foreign investment in US mineral assets was slightly higher in the metals industries than in the nonmetallic groups. Foreign investment more prevalent in minerals Perhaps a more useful way of evaluating the growth in foreign investment is to analyze growth in the "intensity" of foreign investment - the proportion of total US industry assets held by foreign investors. Although insufficient data on total industry assets prevented the development of such a measure, employment data provide an indication of relative differences in the intensity of foreign investment among the mineral industries and other industries. For example, as noted in Fig. 1, the 198,000 minerals industry workers employed at US-affiliate companies in 1985 represented 12.7% of total employment in this sector of the economy. In comparison, for the mining and manufacturing sectors of the economy as a whole, 7.8% of all workers were employed at US-affiliate firms in 1985. For the total economy, 2.7% of the entire civilian employed workforce worked at US-affiliate firms that year. Using employment as an indicator, foreign investment has been more prevalent in the minerals industry than in most other industries. About one worker in eight in the minerals sector was employed at a US-affiliate firm in 1985. In comparison, for the goods producing sectors of the economy - all mining, petroleum, and manufacturing industries - about one worker in 13 was employed at a

Jan 8, 1988

By M. Z. Rashad

The intersections of numerous joint sets at the surface of tunneling region of Abu-Tartour-Project in Egypt create blocks with irregular shape and size in the rock mass. Most of these blocks are not able to move into the free space of the tunnel. Few key blocks are in a position to move and as soon as they begin so, some restrained blocks will be liberated. The aim of this work is to find the (removable) key blocks for walls, floor, roof and corners of a portion of the tunnel under jointed surface rocks; and then determine the best tunnel direction.

Jan 1, 1991

By Michel Gauthier

Several zinc showings, exhibiting many similarities to the well-known Balmat-Edwards zinc deposits of New York State, occur within the Grenville Supergroup strata of the Mont-Laurier Basin, Quebec. Metallogenic mapping programs have revealed much of the stratigraphic control of this mineralization. This control is observed on both regional and local scales. At the regional scale, these showings are confined to the perimeter of the Mt.-Laurier Basin, while at the local scale, a definite association between the zinc mineralization and dolomitic marble horizons is clearly exhibited from detailed mapping. These new exploration guidelines have proven to be useful for base-metal exploration in the Mt.-Laurier Basin and should be applicable to the entire Grenville Province.

Jan 1, 1983

By R. A. Metz, M. A. Bryant, J. C. Goodwin, T. B. Faddies, L. D. Kornze

The Mercur Gold Mine is located 56 km (35 air miles) southwest of Salt Lake City in north central Utah. In July 1981 Getty Mining Company made the decision to put Mercur into production. The first gold bar was poured in April 1983. This paper provides details on: 1) the history of the camp, 2) past production, 3) geology of the deposit, 4) the exploration and development program, 5) ore reserve estimates, 6) detailed geologic pit mapping, 7) production blasthole sampling techniques and 8) the use of geostatistics (kriging) in handling assays and gold extractions to produce the required mill feed.

Jan 1, 1992

By D. Harris, M. Osterberg

This paper examines the economics of acquiring mineral exploration rights by royalty-rate bidding when the royalty basis does not provide for full cost recovery. Bidding takes place prior to exploration and the documentation of actual tonnage and grade. Consequently, it increases considerably the risk to exploration capital when the fraction of cost recovered is small and the product price exhibits large fluctuations. Price and grade risk are demonstrated on a 360-Mt (400-million-st) porphyry copper deposit by Monte Carlo simulation of discounted-cash-flow analysis. Copper price is modeled as a stochastic price process, and costs are based on US Bureau of Mines cost models. When both grade and price risk are considered, the probability for a negative NPV is 0.54, given a royalty rate of 5% applied to a basis that allows the recovery of costs up to 50% of product price. Investment risk could be considerably reduced by defining the royalty basis to allow greater cost recovery. Although such a basis would require society to share in the risk, society would benefit from greater resource development.

Jan 1, 2000

By M. Misra

The interaction of xanthate with SO2 in the flotation of sphalerite and chalcopy.ite is discussed. 'The SO depression of sphaledte is due to the decomposition reaction of xanthate by SO2 The decomposition reaction is dependent on the cole ratios of xanthate/SO2, oxygen concentration and pH. Xanthate adsorbs at a faster rate by chalcopyrite than sphalerite. The faster rate of xanthate adsorption by chalcopyrite and the specific action of S02 on the surface of chalcopy.ite facilitate the selective separation of chalcopyrite from sphaledte.

Jan 1, 1989

By Bryce T. Tripp

Utah's abundant industrial rock-and-mineral resources support a relatively small but important sector of the State's economy. In 1983, six of the top 10 nonfuel mineral commodities (by value) were industrial commodities. Portland cement was ranked fourth, potash fifth, halite sixth, phosphate seventh, construction sand and gravel eighth, and lime tenth. Portland cement was produced by three operators, principally from the Jurassic Twin Creek Limestone. Potash was produced by three companies from Pennsylvanian beds in the Paradox Basin, surface brine of the Great Salt Lake, and subsurface brines of the Great Salt Lake Desert. Halite was produced by eight operators, primarily from surface brine of the Great Salt Lake. Additional production came from salt beds in the Jurassic Arapien Shale, solution mining of the Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation of the Hermosa Group, and subsurface brines of the Paradox Basin. Phosphate was mined by one company from the Permian Meade Peak Phosphatic Shale Member of the Park City Formation. Construction sand and gravel were produced by dozens of operators, primarily from Quaternary Lake Bonneville beach and nearshore deposits. Lime was produced by four operators from Paleozoic formations in the Basin and Range physiographic province of Utah. The future production of these and other industrial commodities, though individually uncertain, is expected to increase gradually as a group. Factors favorable for the future of the industrial commodities industry in Utah include large to almost unlimited resources for the major commodities, a healthy projected population growth, an abundant local supply of relatively inexpensive energy from coal and natural gas, and a favorable corporate tax structure and business climate.

Jan 1, 1987

By Jon J. Kellar

The adsorption of oleate at the surface of a fluorite single-crystal internal reflection element has been investigated using Fourier transform infra-red/internal reflection spectroscopy (FTIR/IRS). The application of this innovative experimental technique has added a new dimension to the investigation and understanding of collector adsorption phenomena. It is now possible, for the first time, to measure in-situ and in real time the adsorption density and bonding nature of collector species adsorbed at mineral surfaces. In this regard, oleate adsorption densities were calculated from spectral data, and the equilibrium adsorption isotherms were found to agree quite well with other adsorption isotherms reported in the literature. At low equilibrium oleate concentrations(<10-5 M), monolayer-type cover-age was observed in the chemisorbed region. It was found that in this region the adsorption density increases with an increase in temperature, which sup-ports experimental results from previous ex-situ FTIR studies and thermochemical studies in which it was shown that the chemisorption reaction was endothermic. At higher equilibrium oleate concentrations (>10-5 M), the adsorption density increases dramatically at the point of surface precipitation. The oleate adsorbed in the chemisorbed region has a distinctly different spectrum than the oleate adsorbed in the surface precipitation region of the adsorption isotherm. In the chemisorbed region, the oleate appears to be mono-coordinated at the fluorite surface.

Jan 1, 1989

By V. V. Ershov

Mining geometrical graphic documentation is employed on a large scale in designing and planning of mining operations at all the stages of exploitation. Mining geometrical modelling of mineral grade distribution presents an independent type of mathematical (graphic) modelling. The idea of functional relationship between geological indices being observed, and spicier coordinates is the basis of traditional mining geometrical modelling. Graphic presentation of three independent variables P =f (x,y,z) is confined to obtaining the series of two independent variables functions. Independent variables are presented as topographic surfaces corresponding to plane cross-sections of a deposit. During exploitation of certain parts of a deposit the most reliable geological information is obtained, characterizing regularities of ore distribution in the entrails. This information is, though, not taken into account in goemetrization of the new areas. In this connection dynamic modelling of deposits in the process of exploitation is necessary, i.e. geometrization of the deposits should be dynamic.

Jan 1, 1986

By W. Linwood Haden

Fullers earth has been mined since about 1920 in southwest Georgia and the adjoining area of Florida. In 1935, the mineral was named "attapulgite" after the source of a sample near the town of Attapulgus, Decatur County, Georgia. Mining and processing of the clay was described in a 1930 publication1 at a time when petroleum refiners were the major users. In the years since then, the uses and users of attapulgite have multiplied, and both mining methods and processing methods have been changed to optimize the clay for the new uses. A comprehensive review of the properties and applications of attapulgite 2 has been published. Only a brief review will be given here to explain the properties being sought and to show how these properties are optimized by mining and processing practices.

Jan 1, 1972